Instructional Technology 6260Instructional Technology 6260

Cognitive Information Cognitive Information Processing TheoryProcessing Theory

Cognitive Information Processing

Without looking at one, draw a picture of a penny

Without looking at it, try to describe your watch: what color is the face what marks the hours what color are the hands is there a second hand does it say anything on the face

Assumptions of Human Information Processing

Some learning processes are unique to humans Mental events are the focus of study The study of human learning must be objective and

scientific Individuals are actively involved in the learning process Learning involves the formation of mental associations that

are not necessarily reflected in overt behavior changes Knowledge is organized Learning is a process of relating new information to

previously learned information

Terminology Cognitive Process- any internal mental event and includes such

phenomena as perceiving, attention, interpretation, understanding and remembering

Learning vs. Memory - learning is viewed as the acquisition of new information. Memory is related to the ability to recall information that has been previously learned

Storage - the process by which new information is placed in memory

Retrieval - the process by which people “find’ the information they have previously stored so they can use it again

Encoding - the process by which information is modified before it is stored - often helps storage

Dual-Store Model of Memory-Atkinson-Shiffrin model

input

input

input

lost lost lost?

SensoryRegister

Short-termMemory

Long-term Memory

Sensory Register

capacity form of storage duration

The Role of Attention

the process by which people select some of the environmental input they receive for further cognitive processing

What do you see?????

Factors Influencing Attention

Size Intensity Novelty Incongruity Emotion Personal Significance Competition between similar tasks

Which letters first draw your attention?

a B c D

Read the Italics Print...

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Incongruity

I took a walk to the rabbit this morning.

Processes Underlying Attention

selective attention automaticity bottleneck effect

Short-term Memory

capacity storage form duration

Example 1. Memorize in sequence:

808810844033542How many right?

15-12 11-8

7-4 4-1

Example 2. Memorize in sequence:

435797100084322How many right?

15-12 11-8

7-4 4-1

Control Processes in STM

Chunking Rehearsal Retrieval

Long-Term Memory

Capacity Form of Storage Duration

Control Processes in LTM

Storage Retrieval

Are STM and LTM Really Different?

Consider: acoustic vs. semantic memories brain injury patients changes due to aging

Metacognition/ Executive Control

people’s knowledge of their own learning, cognitive processes and their regulation of those processes to enhance learning and memory. Also known as thinking about thinking.

Implications for Instruction

Encourage multiple representations for encoding

Organize information to maximize retrieval Support metacognition Link new material to prior knowledge Minimize interference Recognize STM limitations